Senna: Part 1
by anieve
Summary: How Senna became who she is, chapters 1 and 2


1. My name is Senna. I have a last name but it is not important. I screw things up. Perhaps I should explain. A few years ago, I was walking along the path near the lake. My foot caught on a tree root that wasn't there and I fell in. As I opened my mouth to scream, all the air was sucked out of my body by what seemed to be a giant vacuum pressed to my lips, except that it was slimy. A tentacle wrapped around my body and pulled me under, as the vacuum reversed and blew air into my mouth. After about a minute of total panic, I calmed down and started thinking beyond getting away. I realized that if I did get away, I would never make it to the surface anyway. Trying to breathe deeply, which didn't work due to the tube thing which was sucking out at the moment, I tried to think what or who would do this to me. I soon realized that the tube was a sort of oxygen tank made for something with stronger lungs than me. This caused me some worry that I might hyperventilate because of it but worrying would do me no good even if the tube-thing did kill me. About this time I looked down to see what was holding me. It seemed to be a sort of machine made to look like an animal so that some natural function of the animal could be incorporated into the machine. It had a yellowish leathery skin which almost seemed to glow -phosphorescence, I thought- and it had several other tentacles, some of which seemed to be holding some indistinct shapes which I realized with a start were other girls about my age. The water pressure started to get to me and I focused all of my waning energy on breathing. In..., out..., in..., out..., in..., AAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! My concentration was broken with a start as the machine accelerated, whipping my head back. Water went up my nose, and the pressure was slowly crushing the life out of me. My heart beat slower and slower. I took what I knew had to be my last breath, and fainted. 

2. I woke. My first impression was blue. My head swam, but slowly the images became more distinct. I was in a cave with a kind of glowing blue moss on the ceiling. Phosphorescence again. That meant underwater. There were several other girls my age lying next to me. The other ones the machine's tentacles had held, I thought. About fifteen of us altogether. A few of them were still out, but most were awake and looking around as I was. I did not recognize any of them, and in fact only two of the others looked like they spoke English, one of the still unconscious ones and another two over to my left. The one on my right looked Japanese, and the one on my left Mexican. About thirty feet away from our little line of bedraggled girls was a large structure I took to be a throne of some sort. It had a large round base, which became thinner as it went up, and then opened out suddenly into a sort of bowl with part of the side cut out. The throne, like the rest of the cave, was blue, but not phosphorescent, unlike its occupant, who was green and was phosphorescent. He or she -it I suppose- looked like a frog except that it was much too large and had wings and a large scepter in on of his hands. That was another difference: he had hands, too. "Sit." He said. I had a feeling he was talking only to me, but all of the others who were awake sat up too. A moment later, the still unconscious three or four were dragged away by some unseen servants or something else, I could not turn all of a sudden. It struck me that maybe it wasn't "all of a sudden", since I hadn't tried before. I heard nothing but the girl at the end of the line rose and walked forward to the throne. The frog guy reached into a small depression in the arm of the throne and pulled something out that I could not see and handed it to her. The something seemed to be hot, by the way she handled it, and she walked back to her seat. The next girl went and reacted much the same. Most of them did exactly the same thing, except one, who screamed when she got the something and dropped it. It exploded when it hit the ground, so I could not see what it was. Color bloomed on her cheeks, and she hurried back to her seat. After the girl just before me sat down, the same voice that had said "Sit." Earlier said "Come." In a commanding tone. I got up nervously, though trying not to show it, and went up to the throne. The frog guy took what looked like a white pebble from the small depression in the arm rest, and handed it to me. "Go back and sit down." It told me. The pebble was very cold, colder than any thing I had ever touched before. Odd. All the others had acted as if it were hot. Maybe it was for them. I realized that I was back at my place and sitting, and that the pebble was gone. That had always been one of my strengths, shutting out pain or sadness or other overwhelming emotions by thinking logically. Sometimes it scared me, being so cold and emotionless. But it had helped me pass this test. Or was that what they were looking for? Cold, heartless killers to do there bidding without feeling guilty? I realized that I didn't know who "they" were, and that my best bet of survival was to try to pass the test. Who knew, maybe they threw the ones who failed out the garbage disposal or whatever. I tried to glance at the one girl who had dropped the pebble but still couldn't turn. Two more dropped the pebble before we were led away, finally able to turn our heads, down a tunnel, those who had failed down another. I shivered, then stopped myself. They were probably watching us, and that kind of behavior would be noticed and meant more certain failure. The ones who failed would probably just be sent home. If they were sent home, shouldn't I try to fail, so I could get home again? But then there was the possibility if the garbage disposal. I shivered again, and this time I could not control it. To be continued. 


End file.
